The (Grand)Parent Trap
by robbiepoo2341
Summary: Jubilee and Noh-Varr are time travelling, courtesy of Gateway's bolo. But when they arrive at the future, they're furious to find out that Maria Hill is interfering in their family, using their son as leverage against Logan and K. With half the world's heroes enslaved to an overreaching SHIELD, the trick will be getting to the helicarrier and stopping Hill from going any further.
1. Where's Sying?

**Notes: So, while Volume 14 of the 714 is going on with its time travel shenanigans, we sort of have two different stories. The main one is in the volume itself, but concurrently, Jubilee and Noh are having their own time travel adventures, and we wanted to tell that story too.**

 **And since they're happening at the same time, well… we figured we'd present this one to you in its own little side story.**

 **So, this first chapter starts out a little ahead of the timeline, to establish the events that Jubilee and Noh are walking into for their time travel shenanigans. So don't get confused by the suddenly Kindergarten-age babies ;)**

 **I think that just about covers it, and we're pretty excited to bring you moar X-Men Lost in Time...**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: "Where's Sying?"**

* * *

The _Marvel_ touched down on the hidden atoll that Kurt and Kate liked to use for vacations, and Jubilee and Noh came out with two little ones leading the way — both Krissy and Sying were with them, since Krissy had _insisted_ on coming.

"But it's _my_ papa's favorite," she'd argued, and she was so insistent about it — and Sying was _so_ on board with having his favorite friend along — that they really couldn't say no.

"Come on, come on," Sying said, pulling on Krissy's hand, since she was just so much slower than he was. "We can go swimming!"

Krissy's little tail was switching behind her as she scrunched up her whole face. "No fair running."

"I'm _not_ ," he said, though he had, actually, been going a little too fast out of pure excitement. Their last day of first grade for the kids was just last week, and they were _thrilled_ about the summer vacation plans they already had.

Both of them rushed off to start playing in the waves as Noh wrapped an arm around Jubilee's shoulders. "Those two have enough energy to keep my ship powered for another decade," he teased her lightly.

"She loves it," Jubilee countered as she popped up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "And so do you."

He swept her up off her feet and kissed her properly. "Of course," he said with a grin before he kissed her all over again, letting his feet find the path down the beach for a moment until they caught up with the two playing kids — though he didn't let up _too_ terribly much on the kisses once they were there.

And meanwhile, Krissy and Sying played in the waves for a good long time, giggling and teasing each other the whole time, while Jubilee and Noh could hear them shouting at each other.

"No splashing!" Krissy called out.

"You're splashing!"

"You're not supposed to splash me back!"

"That's just not fair!" Sying replied.

" _I_ am part demon!" Krissy replied in exactly the tone of voice that Kurt used all the time that had Jubilee giggling when she heard it.

But eventually, the kids got tired of playing in the waves, and while Sying came running over to get some food, snuggles, and listen to Noh's music while he ate, Krissy stayed out on the beach building sand castles.

"Can I keep this?" Sying asked Noh, holding out the music player. "Just for a little bit. I wanna run, and Krissy's not fast enough, so I want to listen to music."

Noh grinned and reached over to ruffle Sying's long white hair. "Of course. Just make sure to bring it back when you're done. It can stand up to water and sand, but all the same—"

"Yeah, thanks, got it, Dad!" He said with a grin, putting both headphones in his ears before he took off at a run to explore the island.

Noh watched him go with a look of both pride and affection as Jubilee leaned into him. "He gets that from you," she pointed out.

"Oh, absolutely," he agreed as he leaned down to kiss her deeply.

While Sying was gone, Krissy had finished making one whole wall of her castle and rushed over to show Jubilee and invite her to play as well, showing her where she could help as she sang little Disney songs while they both worked. At one point, she got overexcited and accidentally knocked over one of the parapets with her tail, and she sighed in frustration as she took her tail in one hand.

"Stop that," she told her tail firmly before she released it again, which had Jubilee smiling to herself.

Eventually, Krissy did get hungry, and Jubilee took her back to where she and Noh had set out towels and a picnic basket. Noh had fallen asleep in the warm sun, but Jubilee looked around with a little frown. "Where's Sying?" she asked as she nudged Noh awake.

He raised his head a bit and looked around, his sedate, tired smile shifting into a frown when he realized that he couldn't see the little boy. Trying not to look too alarmed in front of Krissy, who was a bit wide-eyed, he jumped to his feet quickly. "I'm sure he's just lost track of time," he said. "I will find him." He took off at a run to do just that, combing the beach and the jungle further in the island.

He was a few miles into the jungle when he found the little music player, fallen next to a downed tree in an inland stream. The headphones were tangled in the branches, and Noh's concern turned to panic as he raced around the stream, the trees, combing the area for any sign of the little boy, now calling his name — since without the music player, maybe he could hear Noh calling. He certainly _should_ have been able to, given his advanced hearing.

But there was no sign of him — not in the stream or the jungle or anywhere — and when Noh finally had to admit that he simply wasn't _there_ , he made his way back to the beach in a state near panic, half hoping that maybe Sying had found his way back to the girls on his own.

When he got there, though, Sying wasn't there, and when Jubilee saw that Noh didn't have Sying, he could see the same panic start to grip her as well.

* * *

Sying had gone for his run to the jungle, enjoying the chance to go as fast as he wanted without having to worry about Krissy accusing him of cheating. It was even _more_ fun in the jungle, too, because it wasn't all level ground, so he could go fast _and_ get some fun jumps and twists and obstacles in there. Which was so, so much better than playing on the boring playground at school.

But there were some things that were worth stopping for, too — and taking his time. He found a pretty stream and paused to find rocks to skip across the surface where some of the water had pooled, though he was still working on getting the precision right when he threw the rocks, and they just sank to the bottom of the pool instead of skipping. This, of course, did absolutely nothing to temper his enthusiasm and efforts, and the pool had about six different flat-sided rocks in it when Sying saw the trees and undergrowth part a little further off.

Curious, he pulled out the headphones and set the player down as he climbed up on a taller rock to try and see if it was his mom or his dad coming to play. If it was Dad, they could race and play games, but if it was Mom… he was going to jump out and scare her. It would be really funny, and then she'd tickle him.

But the person who came through the trees wasn't his mom or dad — but a man he didn't recognize in a blue uniform that he _did_ recognize as being from SHIELD. Which was weird, because he thought that nobody, not even SHIELD, knew where this island was.

He quickly slid down behind the rock to hide, watching the man warily, then jumped in surprise when he heard another person coming out of the undergrowth. They _probably_ thought they were being sneaky, but Sying had _very_ good hearing.

He wasn't as hidden ducked down behind the rock like he wanted to be, so he peeked out to try and spot a different place to hide, and that's when one of the uniformed guys spotted him and rushed over, clearly meaning to snatch Sying up.

The guy likely didn't expect for the little boy to clock him one right in the mouth. And when he did, Sying stuck his tongue out and put his hands up by his ears to wiggle his fingers and turned to run off.

But to Sying's surprise, he couldn't put the distance between himself and the guys in uniform that he expected to be able to, and he let out a little squeak of surprise when the second uniformed guy made another rush for him. And while Sying hit him right in the throat ... it wasn't as powerful as he _should_ have been and didn't knock the guy back like it should have.

So it was all the more distressing when the blue-clad man simply readjusted his grip on the little guy and started to carry him off, though a second man came over and slapped a piece of duct tape over his mouth too. "Can't have anyone with super hearing catch that." He actually gave Sying a little smile. "Just play nice, kiddo. We're not gonna hurt you."

Sying glared and wriggled and squirmed and did everything in his six-year-old power to make it hard for the men to hold on to him. Which was actually rough for the guys who thought it was smart to snatch him, since he could wriggle and squirm and kick them — flexible enough to reach anything exposed, even if it wasn't as strong of a hit as he wanted. Grammy K and Grampa Wolvie had made sure he knew _where_ to hit people, too. The guy holding Sying dropped him three times before they even made it to the other side of the island, where Sying was surprised to see a rope ladder seemingly hanging out of nowhere.

At the top of the ladder, though, to Sying's surprise ... there was a whole ship. A whole entire invisible ship just sitting above the beach on the other side of the island from where his parents were. He wriggled and squirmed some more, but it was a little more half-hearted now that he saw the the invisible ship as, despite himself, he was _curious_. Terrified, but also curious.

How did the ship even get there? How long had it been there? Why was it at the island? Was their tech as cool as Tony's? It couldn't possibly be as cool as his dad's, of course…

But then when the hatch closed behind them, Sying fell back into being scared again as they carried him deeper into the ship, away from distracting and fascinating things like invisibility panels — so that all he could think about was the fact that he didn't know what was happening or what was going on, but it was definitely _bad_. Good guys didn't grab little kids. They just _didn't_.

* * *

Kurt and his small army had teleported K and Logan right to the island when they'd gotten the distress call from the worried parents. They both _tried_ to listen to what was going on for as long as they could as they walked toward the forest — with Jubilee talking a mile a minute to Logan, and Noh explaining what he'd found and starting to lead K toward where he'd been when he picked up the music player — but as soon as the two of them hit the edge of the jungle, they simply took off at a dead run, trying to run down the scent trail.

They made it in a beeline almost directly across the island before the scent trail went cold, but the presence of so many other scents belonging to other people on this previously undiscovered island had both of them growling as they backtracked to the treeline, shared a look, and split in opposite directions.

Logan was headed down the beach — toward where there was a small pond and some wild growing edibles that he hoped Sying had stumbled upon when he was exploring. It was a quiet little spot, and the water was warm and shallow, and he hoped he would be able to pick up a new scent trail. But once he got there, it was clear that no one had visited that spot in quite some time.

On the other hand, K's path had taken her closer to the rocky outcrop that was this island's equivalent of a mountain — though not nearly tall enough to qualify by any stretch of the imagination. She was frustrated on the winding path, since there were simply _no_ scents that shouldn't have been on the ridge, let alone that of the sweet little boy that had seemed to flat disappear.

Both ferals had a bamf on their shoulder, though the little guys that travelled with them knew better than to teleport willy nilly around looking for the little sparkling maple leaf — lest their smoke clouds obscure some fine scent from the ferals' noses, but they too were trying to help, looking overly concerned as they peered into the forest.

Kurt meanwhile was trying to calm Krissy down, as she was very concerned that her best little alien friend might have actually gotten into real trouble, or hurt. Or _worse._ He was just about to send one of the bamfs to ask for a report back on how things were going with the ferals or Noh — who had taken to simply trying to comb the island on a grid search pattern — when the bamf that had been travelling with K returned with a confused look on his face.

She'd found Sying.

* * *

K had found the little boy sitting on top of the ridge, and she had simply settled down beside him while she tried to get the story out of him — away from his parents so that he could remember everything without the outpouring of worry and hugs that was bound to follow.

He had a blue raspberry lollipop in one hand that he hadn't unwrapped yet, though he held it tightly in one fist as he all but climbed into her lap and simply hugged her for a while, clearly still upset, beyond even his usual excitable, chatty self.

"Where were you?" K asked as she stroked his hair and snuggled him.

"I was in an invisible spaceship," he told her, his eyes wide and serious.

"Is that where you got the lollipops?" she asked before she gave him a little kiss on the forehead.

He glanced down at the lollipop and nodded. "There was a nice woman on the spaceship. She gave me _five_."

"That's a lot," she replied.

"Well, she said I was really, really good," Sying tried to explain as he pulled out a handful of lollipops to show her. "But I really wasn't, because I hit everybody I could."

"If they took you without talking to your mom and dad, they were asking for it," K promised. "They're very lucky that your grampa hasn't found them yet."

"Is Grampa Wolvie here too?" he asked, picking his head up with a strange sort of expression.

"Yep," she said with a nod. "Your mom and dad got worried and asked us to come look for you."

He nodded with very wide eyes. "Because of the bad guys," he agreed. "People who pick up little kids are bad guys."

"That's right," K agreed before she pulled him close for another hug. "Do you want to go see your mom and dad now?"

He nodded with a little sniff, though he paused and added, "But... we gotta see Grampa Wolvie first. I'm 'pposed to see both of you."

She frowned at that but nodded. "Why is that, sweetheart?" she asked soothingly.

He looked up at her for a moment, biting his lip. "Well ... I don't really know _why_. I'm just 'pposed to tell both of you the lines I memorized."

She paused, lips parted just a bit as she drew in a slow breath through both her nose and mouth, though she simply still couldn't figure out why the little boy's scent was off. "Okay," she said, then turned to the bamf nearby. "Can you take us to Logan, please?"

The little bamf in the tree nodded enthusiastically, then teleported over to them. He booped Sying's nose after he perched on K's shoulder, and in a plume of indigo smoke, the whole group reappeared not twenty yards from Logan and the bamf that was working with him.

When he saw Sying, he let out a sigh of pure relief. "Where was he?" Logan asked as he came over and took Sying out of her arms to wrap him up in a hug.

"That's the fun part," K said. "But I'll let him explain it." She gave Sying an encouraging little nod before the three of them found a little spot to sit down in the shade.

"Alright kiddo, what's the story?" Logan asked, though he wrinkled up his nose as he caught scent of the boy properly.

Sying looked between both of them for a moment and took a very deep breath. "There were some bad guys, and they found me and used I think maybe a damp-ner because I couldn't run very fast, and then they took me up to an invisible spaceship and took me to go see a doctor even though she wasn't Dr. Fuzzy," he said in a rush of breath.

The two ferals shared a look, and Logan encouraged him to continue, though one of the bamfs appeared near Sying with a bottle of cold water.

Sying patted the little guy on the head with a little 'thank you' before he glanced back at Logan. "Well, I didn't really get to look, but it felt like getting a shot, so that's probably why I got a lollipop from this lady who wasn't the doctor but she was kind of upset and looked like she needed a hug." He shook his head. "She wasn't even there, so she doesn't know if I was good or not, but I hit everyone I could just like you taught me," he added in a proud, confidential whisper.

"That's okay," Logan said. "Good guys don't grab kids."

Sying beamed and nodded enthusiastically. "That's what I told Grammy K!" he said. He was playing with the cap of the water bottle as he kept up with his story. "So then I went and I saw this lady on the other side of a window. She told me it was really, really, _really_ important I memorize some lines to tell you, so I did — and then they took the invisible ship to the mountain and dropped me off with my lollipops," he finished before he took a long drink from the water bottle.

"What were the lines, sweetie?" K asked.

Sying drew himself up and took in all his breath as he scrunched his face in concentration. "She said ... she said: The nanites work on the same... " He paused. "... same principle as the band." He thought it over for a second, trying to remember the rest. "And they're remote control. And… and they're scale-graded. And… there's a number you gotta call. I can write it down for you," he offered.

But K simply handed him her phone instead so he could put it in, repeating the numbers to himself out loud as he did so before he glanced up at them both with a perfectly open expression.

As soon as he'd handed the phone back, she gave him a little smile and hit the button to hear what this mystery person had to say that was so important that they had to screw with the little half Kree angel. But she was disappointed to find that it was simply a string of numbers that equalled out to coordinates.

She made a note of the coordinates in her phone and then gave Sying as warm a smile as she could force. "Alright, sweetheart. I'm sure your mom and dad are missing you terribly."

"Mmhmm," he agreed, halfway melting into Logan now that he'd done what he was supposed to do.

Logan looked at the little bamfs nearby, and in a flash, the three of them were on the other side of the island — where Jubilee and Noh were holding their breath waiting for them. Logan handed him over to Jubilee and pulled Noh aside before he could get too comfortable. "He came back with a message about nanites," Logan said very softly. "Handful of suckers from a shot someone gave him and the details to share — they're scale-graded, remote-controlled, and on the same principles as that band."

Noh looked totally gobsmacked for a long moment, though that quickly started to turn into rage the longer he considered it. "They… can't…."

"I don't think it has a thing to do with you," Logan said. "He said the message was for me and K."

"Was there anything else?" Noh asked with real fury to his gaze.

"Yeah, and we'll take care of it," Logan replied. "If you were smart, you'd get that kid down to Stark to see if he can reverse it."

"I'll do more than that; I'll see if I can not only reverse it but work with Stark to trace its origin," Noh swore. "Though I already suspect who it is."

"I think once we head out to the coordinates we got from the phone number, we'll know for sure who it is," Logan said.

Noh nodded. "I can run him there myself — it'll be faster. But you must tell Jubilee. I promised her not to keep such secrets."

"Just take care of the little guy," Logan said. "And you can tell her — or he can for that matter. We're going to _go_. We'll find out what the deal is and get back to you."

Noh nodded, though he had to pause and put a hand on Logan's shoulder. "Thank you for finding him," he said earnestly.

"K found him," Logan said. "I'm just going to find who did this."

When they got back to the gathered kids and bamfs with the adults in a huddle, K had a bamf on each shoulder as she informed Kurt that she was borrowing them. "I'll bring them back fed and watered," she swore. "But we'll probably be late getting home."

"Send one back if you find trouble — more than the usual kind," Kurt said.

"That's why I've got two," she told him with a little smirk before she kissed both Krissy and Kurt on the cheek.

"No disappearing like Sying," Krissy told K sternly, pointing at her with the purple sucker Sying had given her for emphasis.

"That doesn't sound like something I'd do," K said with a fake frown and her fists on her hips.

Krissy giggled at her. "Yes it _do-o-oes_ ," she sang out.

" _Nuh- uh,_ " K replied with every bit of the same little kid sass Krissy was using.

" _Ja_!" Krissy insisted. "You and Logan disappear to the woods!"

"Well, only because you get grossed out by all the kissing," K replied with a grin.

The little elfling had to giggle at that. "Yeah. Ick. Ew. Cooties."

"You might want to record that, blueberry stud," K said with a finger pointed their way. "You're going to want to remember that in a few years."

"I'm certain of that," Kurt replied with a little smile as Krissy stuck her tongue out at both of them and went back to her purple lollipop.

When Logan got over to K, she pulled her phone out to give the coordinates to the bamfs as they looked over her shoulder and just started nodding. "Take care of the kids for us?" Logan asked as one of the bamfs crawled over to his shoulder. "Noh will fill you guys in. He knows everything we do right now."

"Of course," Kurt promised. "We'll meet you if there is trouble — or see you when you return."

With another swirl of indigo smoke, the two ferals disappeared.


	2. Scott & Annie's Home for Homeless Heroes

**Notes: The nanites came from the shot the bad guys gave Sying, not from any lollipop. And give the six-year-old a break; he's been kidnapped and he's terrified and even when it comes to strangers, nurses and doctors give out lollipops and stickers and they're strangers so this poor kid... he's six. What do you want from him :P**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: "Scott and Annie's Home for Homeless Heroes"**

* * *

The Jubilee and Noh who had just moments ago been standing in the Australian Outback before Gateway showed up now found themselves in the middle of a forest in autumn, picking themselves up from the dust storm and glancing around.

"Well that's a rude switch," Jubilee said as she brushed the leaves and dirt off of herself.

"If you're too cold, you can borrow my shirt," Noh offered. "I don't chill as easily."

"Yeah, well ... we should _probably_ figure out what's going on before we get to the stripping and fun section of the program, don't you think?" Jubilee said with a little smirk. "Obviously, we've been out time travellin'"

"Well, it's been my experience with alternate dimensions and timelines alike that it is never an improper time to have a little fun," he teased. "We don't yet know what's ahead of us, after all."

"True," she said with a big, slow nod. "But … we are clearly no longer in Oz, sweetheart."

"I did notice that," he said with a smirk. "It looks somewhat like where Logan and K were married, actually." He pulled a leaf out of her hair and smiled. "Shall we see if they're home?" he asked, offering his arm.

"Are we that close?" she asked, turning in place before she took his arm.

"Well ... close is a relative term. How fast do you want to get there?" he laughed.

"Well. if it's a matter of you carrying me there ... you pick the speed, handsome."

He grinned widely and swept her up into his arms before he started at a full run, in a bit of a circular search, since he wasn't quite sure of the cottage's location. So he was surprised when he passed through a couple of trees and hit a security device of his own invention, like the ones he'd set up around the mansion. A psionic pulse that stopped him in his tracks and sent him to his knees in an instant with a little muttered, "oh" of surprise.

Neither of them could move, and they both had wicked headaches as they both tried to shake it off — though neither of them were up to doing anything when a new player entered the forest from the direction of the cottage, a large gun in hand.

Noh and Jubilee were both shocked to see that it was Annie, of all people, who stopped a few feet from where they were. She was definitely older than their Annie, with gray streaks all through her hair, but the gun was familiar — Tony Stark's design. "You've got to be kidding me," Annie said as she stared at the two of them. "You came _here_?"

"Are we suddenly not welcome?" Jubilee challenged.

"You know very well—" Annie let out a breath and raised her gun again. "Just turn around and get out."

"Hey," Jubilee replied, finally getting her feet beneath her again and shakily walking right toward her and leveling a finger at Annie. "I know very well that Logan and K said I was welcome at their place any time." She sounded ready to go toe to toe with her right then and there.

"And you also know very well that's changed," Annie said.

"Since _when_?" Jubilee replied, again looking shocked. "Did something happen? Did they split or something?"

Annie stared at Jubilee, a look of pure suspicion on her face before Noh put a hand on Jubilee's shoulder. "Perhaps we should just take a breath."

"No — if something's up with my Wolvie I wanna know," Jubilee insisted. She gestured wildly at Annie. " _Obviously_ this is some kind of alternate future — _that sucks_ — so … whatever. This hasn't happened in our time!"

Annie looked between the two of them with narrowed eyes. "Scott," she said into a comm on her shoulder. "I think… you should see who tripped the alarm. I'm not entirely sure what to do with them."

"Do you need the kids?" Scott asked.

"I don't think so," Annie said, still watching Jubilee and Noh warily. "It doesn't look like they brought anyone else… just get over here."

It didn't take long before Scott came to join Annie, though when he saw who had tripped the alarm, both Jubilee and Noh were surprised by the absolute _anger_ in his expression as he snapped at both of them, " _What_ are you doing here?"

Jubilee looked completely shocked to hear that tone coming from him — and directed at herself. "Okay. So I don't know what twisted your stick? But we were just in the Outback — and Gateway dropped us here. So … whatever your damage is? You need to get over it."

He paused on hearing Gateway's name and took a second to look both of them over a little closer. "Elin will have to clear you before you step foot inside," he allowed.

"Wait, what … how old is she?" Jubilee asked. "Is she even big enough to be able to do more than crush Kurt emotionally?"

"Going on twelve in a few months," Scott said, relaxing slightly when he heard the honest confusion in her voice. "Where… when was she when you left?"

"Like... A year and a half, give or take a little," Jubilee replied.

"Well, she just got her powers a few months ago," Scott told her. "And she's _good_."

"I guess it's kind of a flat point to ask if she favors her mom or dad in that, right?" Jubes asked with her arms crossed and her hip cocked out at an angle.

"Yeah, pretty much," Scott agreed as he motioned for the two of them to follow him back toward the cottage. They were about halfway out when Elin — looking like a much younger version of her mother but with her father's eyes — met them there.

"Hello, little sister," Noh said warmly when he saw her.

Elin looked him over with a frown and a barely hidden sniff, though she didn't get much closer than arm's length to either of them before she backed up and stood just next to Scott, half hidden. "They don't smell wrong. Unless there's something else you want me to look for."

"No, that's great," Scott told her with a little smile, one hand on her shoulder in a clearly reassuring gesture.

Noh frowned Elin's way. "We're visiting from your past," he tried to explain. "I'm truly sorry for whatever we've done to upset you, but I don't know what that is yet — or I would fix it."

Elin raised one eyebrow and looked up at Scott. "He's not lying either," she said. "How do they not know?"

"They're from about ten years ago," Scott said. He relaxed a bit more when he looked Jubilee's way. "You two need to get inside. If you're not our Jubes and Noh — you could get in real trouble if the wrong people see you out here. And it could get us in real trouble too, and I _don't_ want to move headquarters again."

"We're running out of places to hide on Mom's list," Elin explained.

"And… you are hiding from _us_?" Noh asked, both thunderstruck and completely refusing to believe it.

Elin smirked the slightest bit "If it was anyone else, I wouldn't believe you — scent or no."

Annie let out a sigh as they reached the door, and she held it open for the group of them. "Just go straight to the living room — any further and you may run into one of the kids, and as nice as it is to see you two — the old you — I don't think they'll react well," she directed Jubilee and Noh.

Elin led the way in and made a beeline across the living room to where she'd obviously been wrapped up in a blanket near the fire. It was clear that there were big changes at K's little cottage with all the people that were staying there. A handful of teenagers and a few adults crammed into the small house was a little tighter than cozy, but it looked like they had built in a lower level, if the reinforced door in the hallway was anything to go by.

"So," Annie said, sitting down with a little sigh. "You've missed everything then."

"Looks like," Jubilee agreed with her arms crossed and a little glare on. "But ... Gateway sent us here for a reason, so how about you tell us _exactly_ what happened and when, and we can figure out how to fix it."

Annie and Scott shared a look across the living room before Scott took a deep breath and tried to retell the story of what had happened in the hidden Pacific atoll to the best of his knowledge, since he knew they were right — they needed details.

"When they got to the coordinates, it was to find comms and an assignment," Scott explained. "Maria Hill started running their lives for months; we didn't know the full extent of what was going on because they kept their silence, and they were just _gone_ so often there wasn't enough time…" He shook his head. "When they were around, we spend half our time planning for the worst, so when Hill did take over SHIELD, and when she did find a way to get those nanites into more than just Kree — we had a place to run."

He let out a long breath. "You two are still out there, in our time anyway. But with Noh's physiology, he was one of the first after Logan and K to be controlled through the nanites in his own blood stream, and once Hill figured out how to adapt them to human and mutant bodies as well?" He shook his head. "Well, you can see what's left," he said as he gestured around. "Most of the Avengers, the X-Men — we had to split and go underground. Even just going into town could lead to a kidnapping, and the only way to tell if someone has the nanites in them is through scent or if you have a metal manipulator on your team." He smirked. "Lorna and Magda have been invaluable to those of us that are left that aren't under SHIELD's control."

"And what about Sying?" Noh asked with a fair bit of distress in his voice.

"He's on the helicarrier, as far as I know," Scott admitted. "He's fine. Hill's not stupid enough to pull anything with Logan and K just waiting for her to make that mistake," he added quickly, which did at least get the two time travellers to relax a little bit.

As the adults talked briefly, catching Noh and Jubilee up on what was going on, Noh looked over to watch his little sister as she was clearly focusing on someone at the top of the stairs and very seriously shook her head 'no'. But of course, the figure came down slowly anyhow, and Noh was more than ready to ignore the little display if not for the fact that Elin almost hissed out _James_ — which seemed to be his cue to completely stop listening to her at all.

James paused on seeing the newcomers, but only for a second, before he kept walking and made his way over to his sister to watch the show with the adults.

"Hello, little brother," Noh said in a soothing, soft tone that only the two ferals in the chair could hear. "It's nice to meet you."

James turned to look at Elin, who shrugged her shoulders slightly. He muttered out a very soft 'hello' that met Noh's volume almost perfectly.

Noh smiled and then turned his attention back to Scott as he was explaining the rest of the situation — SHIELD was running things tightly with Hill in charge, heroes operating on their own were just not allowed, that kind of thing.

"That sounds right up her alley," Jubilee said with a clear tone of irritation.

"She likes to be in control," Annie said with a derisive little snort.

"Yeah, I noticed," Jubilee said before she clapped her hands together. "So! When do we storm the big, evil floating castle, oh, fearless leader?"

"When we know where it is, for starters," Scott said. "It's in constant motion, and our Noh has it on a jamming frequency we can't trace. We've got a good team in place if we can get there — we just don't know _where_ to go — or where Sying or the others are."

"Well, it can't float forever, right? Where does that thing refuel?"

Scott grinned Jubilee's way and nodded. "We've got a few X-Men stationed at three different fueling stations. Well, I guess they were junior X-Men when you saw them last," he added, looking proud.

"Well, put me in, coach — just tell me what I gotta paff into next decade," Jubilee replied easily.

"Actually, your timing — or Gateway's timing — is pretty great. We're just waiting for our intelligence man to get back. We're expecting him later tonight," Scott told them both.

"So … if you'll just stay for dinner," Annie said with an unmistakable smirk, "try not to scare the kids, hmm?"

"Well … who all is here — and are they even scare-able?"

Annie laughed. "Good point. We've got James and Elin, along with the twins, and of course Kate and Kurt's girls and a few bamfs. And Tyler and Tammy — and Leslie Ann," she listed off.

"You'll know if you startle Krissy. She just started teleporting last week, and she ends up in the basement every time she gets surprised," Scott added.

"Or sneezes. Or … anything sudden, really," Annie laughed.

"Then we'll try not to do that," Jubilee replied with a smile before she finally noticed the two little Howletts in the living room half cuddled up. "Holy crap."

Annie smiled lightly at that and tipped her head at the two kids. "James, Elin — do you want to, well, reintroduce yourselves?"

"You just did for us," James pointed out.

"There's more to introductions than just names," Annie said with a sigh as she got to her feet. "Or you can help me set the table."

Both of them shared a look and headed over to help Annie without another word spoken.

"Don't take it personally," Scott advised. "Those two mostly keep to themselves since Logan and K stopped coming home from SHIELD missions."

"That's awful," Jubilee said with a frown. "And since you guys are kind of locked in, they don't get to go outside to go do … ferally things, do they?"

Scott let out a sigh. "We've got a basic Danger Room. It's not the same, but it's all we've got at this point. We try to keep the kids on their toes, just in case. You know if Hill got either of them, _especially_ before they got their healing…" He shook his head. "That's the one thing she hasn't been able to do — Logan and K's systems just flat out don't work with the nanites."

"So you have to keep tight tabs on the little sweetie tiny-Logan," Jubilee surmised. "Awww, Scotty." She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You big squishy."

He smirked her way. "It's my job," he said. "I _am_ his godfather."

"Shut. Up."

"Would I lie to you about something like this?" he asked with a little grin.

"Not … when Logan was around, _no_." She was chuckling and delightedly bouncing in place. "Seriously? That's not a self-appointed thing?"

"Took me by surprise too," Scott said. "I had no idea."

"Well. I hope you just remember that always," Jubilee decided.

"I do," Scott promised as he got to his feet — though when Jubilee and Noh both stood to follow him into the kitchen, he crossed the span to wrap Jubilee in a quick hug.

"Thank you! That's how it's supposed to be for a hello, mister," she said before she bear hugged him back.

He smirked and then spun her around before he let her back down to Noh. "Can't blame me for being cautious," he pointed out.

"Well no — not when you have a tiny Wolvie you have to protect," she teased. "Can't let anything happen to your little buddy."

He shook his head at her. "Man, I missed you, Jubes."

"But not as much as you miss your slightly bigger Wolvie, right?" she replied with a broad grin, though she quickly held both hands out in front of herself. "No no, don't deny it. I can see it on your face. That's enough."

Scott gave her a dry sort of look before he headed for the kitchen. "Whatever you say."

She raised both fists over her head in triumph. "YES! Still got it!"

Scott just shook his head at her, though there was no mistaking the clear smirk all the same.

When the group settled in to dinner, Jubilee _wanted_ to sit next to James — but the little guy took a spot right next to Scott and tried very hard to look even smaller than he already was. What's more, it looked like Scott and James had their own little secret code going on; the two of them were communicating silently, through little looks and motions. And as the adults talked about the state of affairs after dinner was over, James leaned into Scott and let out a sigh.

It was pretty clear that he didn't want to go play with the other kids — so he got comfortable with the adults, even if he was obviously bored out of his little mind.

Which was too bad, since the kids seemed to be having fun. Leslie Ann, her pigtails long gone and replaced by a short cut, was tucked away with her cousin, Charlie, as well as a little pinkish elfling that Jubilee and Noh hadn't met yet. The little girl seemed to be the youngest of the group, and both Leslie Ann and Charlie were _clearly_ letting her win their little board game. Every once in a while, the little elfling would burst into delighted giggles, and they were so infectious that even the mansion residents who weren't part of the game had to grin.

And then there was Chance, who seemed to be doing his best to mess with Krissy. He waited until the oldest elfling had gone to the fridge to get something to drink, snuck up behind her, and then grabbed her by both shoulders with a little 'boo' that not only made Krissy squeak with surprise but also wound up startling her into teleporting across the room in a puff of purple.

Krissy scrunched up her whole face in frustration Chance's way as she righted herself, the water bottle from the fridge still clutched in her hand but thankfully unopened. "Stop _doing_ that!" she half-growled his way.

"How else are you going to practice?" he teased with a crooked sort of grin as Krissy huffed at him and put her hands on her hips.

"Chance," Scott called out, having seen the little display, or at least part of it. "Take a break."

Chance gestured wordlessly Krissy's way for a second before he got a sort of resigned look. "Fine," he said, though he had a hard time keeping his quiet when that prompted Krissy to give him a very childish face from behind Scott's back. He checked to see if Scott was still watching — which he was.

Chance paused.

And then, he made a very quick face Krissy's way and slipped off down the hall before there could be any retaliation.

When Scott returned his attention to the group still at the table, he let out a weary sigh and took a peek at James, who was trying very hard not to look too sleepy. "You want to go sit by the fire?" he asked, and when James nodded, Scott scooped him up and headed over — with the little guy trying hard not to giggle at being carried around.

Scott took the comfy seat right next to the fireplace and tried to settle in, knowing full well that the little guy was ready for quiet, though they hadn't been there long before Scott felt two small fuzzy hands on his arm and looked over to see the tiniest elfling trying to pull herself up as well.

"Me too," she said tiredly, and when Scott scooped her up as well, she made herself comfortable right there, contentedly snuggling both James and Scott.

"I'm pretty sure this is the sweetest thing in the history of ever," Jubilee said at a whisper to Noh.

Noh chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You do look like you're about to burst," he teased.

"I mean … look at them … all tiny and snuggly and … big bad Cyclops going all cuddle ball with them."

Noh kissed her temple and grinned. "So this time isn't all bad, is what you're saying," he teased.

"Well. I'm saying that we have to fix whatever's wrong? But … this ain't it."

He laughed and nodded his agreement. "Certainly not."

"And …. I'll just bet that those two little _angels_ get Uncle Scott snuggles in any timeline. It's just too beautiful not to happen always."

"Yes, of course — though you know in other timelines, there would be snuggles with my adoptive mother and your adoptive father in the mix. _That_ is the fix to make here."

"Yes. That's probably a large part of the fix," Jubilee agreed. "And of course, _we're not here either._ "

"Which is a travesty beyond words," Noh agreed.

"Shhhhh," James muttered their way before he snuggled in deeper, one arm around the tiny elfling — and Scott had to smirk toward them before he shifted out from under them and left the two of them to cuddle up in the chair.


	3. Team Red, Team Blue, Team Purple

**Chapter 3: "Team Red, Team Blue, Team Purple"**

The kids had all fallen asleep — everyone in the living room because they were all too nosy to simply go to bed properly. Scott and Annie had just finished making the rounds to cover all of them with blankets, though James and Kari, the littlest elfling, didn't really need it for as snuggled up as they were so close to the fire.

When the blanket rounds were done, Scott returned to the other three adults at the table to start talking tactics. "It's really just a matter of timing," Scott said. "We know where the helicarrier will refuel, and we know the window, but now it's just details. Security plans, the final makeup of the teams — _that_ is what I'm waiting on. But..." He paused and glanced to the little ones. "It's going to be a huge risk."

"You can count us in," Noh told him. "For whatever you need."

"We'll see what our head of operations has to say before I can accept that offer," Scott said with a little frown.

"That's not you?" Jubilee asked, sounding honestly surprised.

"Not this time," Scott admitted. "We needed someone with more specialized knowledge."

Almost on cue, the perimeter alarm went off — and just as quickly quit working — and Scott got to his feet to see if it was welcome or unwelcome company. He excused himself quietly and slipped out of the cottage, only to return a few minutes later with two trenchcoat-clad figures with bamfs on their shoulders.

At first, Jubilee didn't know if she was seeing things right or not, but when the gentleman with the dark sunglasses on pulled a pistol — aiming it at her head, she was pretty sure that was a positive ID. "What the hell are they doing here?" Fury half growled out.

"No — the Jubilee and Noh-Varr you know are still where they should be," Noh tried to explain, both hands up in a gesture of surrender. "We're from the past."

But Fury didn't lower his pistol until James made his way past the two of them and tugged at Fury's coat. "Stop it," he said with a little frown. "Uncle Scott says they're okay. So stop." He crossed his arms and gave Fury a little glare — which was all the more adorable with his hair all messed up from how he and Kari had been snuggled up.

"Well, if they passed a sniff test and a Scott test…" said the second trenchcoated figure with a little smirk as she pulled off her coat to hang it over the side of a chair — and Jubilee recognized the all-purple look (though not the shorter, graying hair).

James gave Fury a little nod and headed over to Kate to give her a hug and lead her in by the hand as the bamf on her shoulder teleported to James's shoulder instead to try to pat his bed head into place.

"So, what's the word?" Annie asked pointedly.

Fury was still glaring at Noh and Jubilee even though he'd put the pistol away. "Why are they here?" he asked, still undeterred.

"Gateway," Scott said. "Apparently."

"That's … good news. I think," Fury replied, relaxing the slightest bit. "How far back are they from?"

"Ten years or so. They haven't met James or Kari yet."

"K was carrying James," Jubilee offered. "A few months off, anyhow, when we left."

"Then you two have missed a _lot_ ," Kate said, shaking her head. "Scott and Annie fill you in?"

"More or less," Jubilee replied. "So, how do we utterly destroy the losers running this fiasco?"

"We have a few people on the other side," Fury replied, though he still didn't look convinced of Jubilee and Noh's story. "It's pretty simple. We'll rendezvous with Team Blue on top of Willis Tower when the helicarrier comes in to refuel. NYC has been proven to be too hot for them to touch, so they've moved refuelling stations to Chicago instead." He took a breath and looked over the group.

"Security is lighter on the ground level, but it gets pretty intense on the top five floors. We'll use image inducers and hide out at the observation deck until it closes, then head up to the roof to get on board."

"Magnetic grappling hooks," Kate added with a crooked grin. "They're totally weird to shoot, all top heavy, but you know. Hawkeye."

"Right. Well. after we cross the lines, one of our men inside will make sure that the access door has an episode," Fury continued. "Used to happen from time to time. He's made sure that they have continued to happen in my absence so that it looks like the same old problem. From there, it's just a matter of weaving our way up to the old office or the bridge. We need to separate Miss Maria Hill from her phone." He turned to Scott. "And I am told I have a very enthusiastic volunteer for that. Apparently, she's been letting her creativity run wild and can't wait for the chance to let loose."

"Then we'll want to clear out before she gets started," Scott said with a raised eyebrow. "If she's had this long to ruminate…"

"She's got a lot of untapped rage that she knows exactly where she wants to let loose," Fury agreed. "Logan has elected to stay unless he's needed elsewhere at that time. He won't say it, but I think he's got a few ideas of his own."

"Oh, I'm sure he does," Scott said, shaking his head.

"So that's it then? Just storm the place and get her phone?" Jubilee asked with one eyebrow raised and her hip cocked to the side.

"Well, one of the Blue team will handle the deactivation. K has offered to deal with her too if she crosses any lines," Fury replied. "Something about just not liking her."

"Nobody likes her," Kate muttered out of the corner of her mouth from where she was already getting coffee in the kitchen like she hadn't had any in weeks.

"And who is … this irritating blue team member anyhow?" Jubilee asked.

Scott glanced at Kate for the answer, and she shrugged, her lips pursed. "Well. Team Blue is kind of literal with the colors," she grumbled.

"McCoy, Wagner, and Darkholme," Fury explained. "Plus Barton. But … he's new to the group."

"He used to be Team Red — who thankfully are _not_ as literal with their team color," Kate said with a little smirk. "Unless you count Nat."

"So what are you now? Team Homeless eyepatch?" Jubilee asked with a smirk that earned her a dry look from Fury.

"I wanted to call us Team Purple, but Fury wouldn't bite," Kate smirked. "Something about me only being temporarily on his team."

"At any rate — it happens midway between midnight and dawn," Fury replied, obviously trying to keep the conversation on-track.

"That's not much time," Annie said with a small frown as she rested a hand on Scott's arm without really thinking about it.

"I wish I could have given you more warning," Fury said earnestly. "But they don't make the arrangements until the last minute."

"We'll leave as soon as Ty and Tammy get back from their perimeter sweep," Scott said with a little nod. Then, in a lower tone, he added, "They'll scuttle the place and move on if we're not back tomorrow night."

"That should be good," Fury said. "Even if they have to leave, K will know where to look. You're still working off her list, right?"

"Getting close to the end of it, but yeah," Scott said with a little nod.

"Is there room in this plan for the two of us?" Noh asked quietly. "We were sent here to help — and we'd like to do just that."

Fury and Scott shared a look, and then Kate and Fury seemed to weigh it out before, finally, Fury nodded. "If you get us caught, I will personally shoot both of you in the head," he warned.

"Fair enough," Noh said.

* * *

It was nearly midnight when Tyler and Tammy got back to the cottage and took over on watching out for the kids — so it was early in the wee hours of the morning when the assorted group of heroes got to Chicago to wait for the helicarrier.

Hank McCoy was the one to greet them all — not just to say hello but to check and make sure none of them were carrying nanites. He paused when he got to Jubilee and Noh, eyes slightly narrowed, but when Scott muttered to him low that they were sent by Gateway, he seemed to very reluctantly let them pass.

Although everyone was in an inducer, it was quickly obvious that Kurt was part of the group when he appeared beside Kate and wrapped her up in a kiss.

"Don't even know why we bother with undercover the way they are," muttered Clint, currently a heavier-set redheaded teenager.

"Like you and the Mrs are any better," Fury replied dryly.

"Hey. If she didn't want me to kiss her all the time, she wouldn't've married me."

They didn't get too comfortable before the helicarrier arrived, though, and Kate was quick to untangle from Kurt as both Hawkeyes got their grappling arrows ready, waiting for the cue from Fury before they fired several, and the little team climbed to the top of the helicarrier with relatively little resistance.

From there, it was simply a matter of slipping through the access hatch while it was "malfunctioning" and jammed open, and Fury quickly led the group to maintenance tunnels so that they were out of sight of the workers. They were completely silent all the way down corridors that even Clint didn't know were _in_ SHIELD's blueprints until they reached Fury's old office. Maria Hill had never been able to get into it, since Logan and K "killed" the director, so it was likely the most secure place in the whole helicarrier.

It looked like the place hadn't been touched in years — except for the fact that there were blueprints laid out for them at Fury's desk with rooms marked in three different handwritings. Rooms that held some of her 'operatives' like Logan, K, this time's Jubilee and Noh… Hill's office and war room… Noh paused over one of them as he glanced over Fury's shoulder.

"That is Sying's room?" he asked with a suddenly unreadable expression on his face.

"Yes," Fury replied. "But we can't go there until we have Hill neutralized."

Noh frowned but nodded. "I can understand that," he said in a tone that clearly said he wasn't exactly happy about it.

Fury checked his watch and shook his head. "We haven't been made, but I haven't heard back from our inside people yet. I need someone to go with Cyclops to the bridge. When it's clear that Hill's not in charge, there will be pandemonium."

"I can go," Kate offered. "We shouldn't send one of the time travelers, or they might think the boss man's just been suckered into the program with them."

"Alright then," Fury replied. "They can come with me; I might need the back up to get innocents out before the ferals get let loose anyway."

"Take the bamfs with you," Kurt suggested. "If you need a faster exit — for anyone — they know a safe place."

Fury nodded, and in an instant, each of them but Kurt had a bamf on their shoulder. "Good luck."

Kate and Scott headed for the bridge while Kurt, Clint, and Hank went toward the middle levels, where most of Hill's 'operatives' were when they weren't in the field. While Kate and Scott were there to keep the general calm, that team would be in charge of getting their old friends out — and seen to.

Which meant Jubilee and Noh were with both Fury and Mystique as they crept through the access tunnels only Fury seemed to know about. Jubilee kept shooting Mystique little dirty looks the entire time they were sneaking around, but that was nothing compared to what the bamf on Mystique's shoulder was doing, making it clear that he was _not_ happy about his assignment by pretty much hovering by her instead of actually resting on her shoulder.

"You know, I don't need to put up with your attitude," Mystique said finally, after not once having looked Jubilee's way.

"I'm just trying to figure out what kind of stupid world we wound up in where the X-Men trust _you_ and not us," Jubilee grumbled.

"The same as it's always been," Mystique replied. "I always go where it best suits my interests. And knocking Hill off the top of the power pyramid suits my interests."

"Yes, I imagine it's hard for someone with your chosen profession to exist in a world run by Hill's SHIELD," Noh said with a little smirk. "As horrible as she is, even I have to admit she's effective."

"Not as effective as she'd like to be," Mystique replied. "And if she can manage a way around the feral's healing, we'll be seeing more trouble than we have now."

"So it's that you're scared of Wolvie," Jubilee said triumphantly.

"Please," she said dryly. "That's never been the case."

"Then K," Noh said, this time with his own little smirk.

She glared at him for a moment and rolled her eyes. "Can we get this over with, Fury? The company is terrible."

"Agreed," Noh said without missing a beat.

Fury just shook his head but kept leading the path through the tunnels until they opened up to an office near Hill's — and Clay Quartermain let them all into his office, raising an eyebrow at Jubilee and Noh when he saw them but addressing Fury with a little nod. "The Howletts got caught up, but that's actually good for us. We can go in as they're leaving the debrief."

"How's her security detail?" Fury asked as he checked the barrel of his weapon one more time.

"Higher when she's meeting with them," Quartermain admitted.

"Does she have reason to suspect them more than usual?"

"She's just paranoid. She knows they'd kill her slow, and she knows they don't have nanites. It's more self-preservation than suspicion," Quartermain said with a smirk. "It's standard procedure at this point, especially if a mission goes long and they're coming back amped up."

"So which one is closer to snapping?" Fury asked. "Just so I can be sure to stay out of the way."

"Honestly couldn't tell you, sir," Quartermain admitted. "It changes based on the day and if Hill's said anything tremendously stupid."

Fury nodded then turned toward Mystique. "If that's the case, you may want to be careful. First whiff either one gets ... if they're in a rage …"

"I'm not too worried," Mystique said, waving her hand. "You only need me for the controls anyway."

Fury nodded and moved to hit his comm, just the silent signal that made the other's devices vibrate. They all checked in verbally a few moments later — to acknowledge that they had the signal to go once Fury buzzed them again — and from their hiding spot, the group watched a hidden camera feed to see when Logan and K were done with their debrief.

"You'll need a fingerprint as well as a voice print," Quartermain said Mystique's way when it looked like things were wrapping up.

Fury looked to Mystique, and she shrugged. "Shouldn't be an issue," she said easily.

"Noh, why don't you make acquaintances with Mystique. Just in case she gets any bright ideas outside of the scope of her assignment," Fury said without looking either one's direction, just locked onto the feed.

Noh glanced over at Mystique. "We've met," he said simply. "Though she likely remembers my adoptive mother of Earth more than me. K makes a much stronger impression."

Mystique sneered for a moment but didn't really say anything one way or the other as she waited for the signal to go — the second the briefing was over.

They had a small window of time to work with as a secret panel behind Hill's desk slid open — and Noh dashed in before it could close again, with instructions from Fury to grab the phone away from Hill before she could give any commands.

He wasn't exactly nice about it either — with a high speed collision followed by basically ripping the phone from her pocket and plowing through anything (bone included) in the way before he rushed past again. And all before she could fully react. Jubilee was building a nice big plasmoid to throw in once Noh was out and Logan and K were far enough away, just to help with the chaos.

Logan and K hadn't quite stepped out of the door when the assault began — and they simply glanced at each other and took a step back into the office instead of leaving it. Slowly, deliberately, they closed the door behind them, with K pointedly flipping the deadbolt before she and Logan turned back to the SHIELD personnel and the would-be director. They shared a look and took separate sides of the room as they headed toward Hill's desk, both of them locked onto her with unreadable expressions.

Hill was half cradling her arm, stepping behind her security escort — for as much good as she knew they weren't — and she looked suddenly paler than she ever had before. "You won't kill me," she said, addressing Logan directly. "That's not part of your code."

Logan raised his eyebrows at that and simply watched her for a moment. "My code … does not protect people that imprison kids to use as leverage," Logan pointed out. "But … even if I was to ignore that part of your … long string of mistakes…. Even if I was to let that go and try to go by some code … She doesn't have a code," Logan replied tipping his head toward his wife. "At all."

K didn't change her expression in the least. "Fury, I just need you to get out of the splatter zone," she said without looking toward the others. "Have Noh go back to where you came from with that phone, and we'll get all her little codes out of her real quick."

"You know where to find us when you're done," Fury said with a nod.

They quickly exited the room and left the two of them to get some work done, though before he stepped out, K did offer for Noh to join her — "Just give the phone to Logan, if you like. I'm sure you have questions I won't think of."

Noh considered it for a moment before he nodded and did just that, handing the phone to Logan as he stepped toward her. "Just a few specifications," he agreed.

"I'm sure," K said with a nod. "And God help her if she lies."

"If she tries such a thing, I can always force her my way," Noh offered with a small smirk.

"Oh, I have ways," K said. "And she won't lie. Not even a little bit. Because every lie she tells is going to buy her another hour."

At that, Logan quickly pushed the others forward. "No one wants to see that," he said. "And I'm sure Noh is going to regret it soon enough." He looked at Jubes. "How long have you been in this time?"

"Like, maybe a day?" Jubilee said, blowing her hair out of her face. "It royally sucks here, by the way."

"No kidding," he said dryly. "Lets bust you and the other Noh out. Then we can get to Sying."

"Yes please!" she agreed with a little grin and a nod, slipping her arm through his.

Logan gave her a nod and led the way, though he gave Mystique a once-over. "What's got you all nervous?"

"Certainly not you."

He nearly snorted at that. "Sure. Whatever you say."

The rest of their trip to the holding cells was a quick one — and anyone that stood in their way quickly stood down on either the glare Logan gave them or the fact that they recognized Fury.

The little Team Blue had already worked their way through the holding areas in the level below them, but there were 'assets' still a few on that level, and the small team following Fury made quick work of them, while Quartermain directed everyone on where to go to meet up with Team Blue and the bamfs for a way down to the ground and away from the stupid helicarrier.

When they got to the two cells that held Noh and Jubilee, Logan turned to Mystique and told her the voice command to open them, though when she tried the first time … nothing happened.

"More … more like you got a hard on to take down the world," Fury directed.

"Yeah, serious stick up the ass," Logan added, and Mystique couldn't help but smirk at the direction before she did an absolutely perfect 'in charge' Maria Hill.

As soon as the cell doors sprang open, Jubilee rushed out to wrap her arms around Logan's neck in a hug before Noh got there a moment later and, instead of waiting for Jubilee to get done, just hugged them both instead.

"Alright, that's just not called for," Logan grumbled.

"You were between me and my wife; I make no apologies," Noh said, though he did release Logan and wait for Jubilee to get done… and did a bit of a double-take when he saw the other Jubilee just behind Fury. "Oh ... what universe…?"

"Time, not universe," Jubilee said. "Other you is with your Earth mom having a sit down with Miss Maria Hill. So you know. If you want to be emotionally scarred for life or have things you need to know …"

"I think I'll leave that to him," Noh said, shaking his head. "I'll be sure to talk to him before you return and find out what I need anyway."

"Well ... you're hoping you get to him before Gateway does," she pointed out. "You cannot plan when he's involved."

"You really can't," Mystique agreed.

He frowned and considered this, then turned to Fury. "I'd like the recording then," he said. "Hill doesn't allow anything to occur here without cameras — at least as far as she's able. I'm certain there will be video evidence."

"I'm sure K can fill you in," Fury replied. "Cameras are off. We don't need a record of what she does."

"Then let's not waste any time," Noh said with a nod as he wrapped up Jubilee from behind. "Do you know where the others are? It's been too long since I've seen Sying."

It wasn't more than a few minutes later when Fury's comm went off with K on the other end. "I have a code for you — to turn off the nanites," she said. "I'm not killing her until I know she's not trying to pull anything, but there's no lie."

"Try it on me first," Noh suggested. "If there's anything written into it…" He let out a long breath. "I would rather I find out than my Jubilee."

K relayed the fifteen character code to Mystique, who used it on Noh in Hill's voice, in the same uptight, snooty tone she'd used before. He winced one eye shut in anticipation, but ... nothing horrible happened.

"Lorna is waiting at her … hiding spot," Logan told him. "We can yank 'em out if we need to."

"We'll have to see what my other self and K have to say when they return as to how ingratiated the nanites are in the biology of the hosts," Noh pointed out. "It may take a few rounds, especially for non-healers."

"Henry had some ideas about that," Fury replied. "He got to talking about a magnetized dialysis treatment…. Though I don't know if that's something he can do without Mrs. Summers."

"Well, if we have a way to disable the nanites, then… the next step we _must_ take, before we do anything else, is to find my son," Noh said with a nod.

"Not a problem," Logan replied. "This way — don't let anyone get close to the barrier until 'Miss Hill' disables it."

The older Jubilee and Noh glanced at each other and looked anxious, both of them latching onto each other's hands as they gestured for Logan to lead the way. They went through several more hallways before they found it, and by then, the older Jubilee was all but bouncing as they waited for Mystique to do her thing. It was clear to see for everyone there — their family had been separated for far too long.

Once the lightly humming barrier had dropped, even those without super hearing in the group almost immediately knew this had to be the right room, too — because before the door was open, they could hear the light piano music from the other side.

"He's been composing this whole time," Logan said, before Mystique said the codes to disable the wall and the two of them stepped out of the way for Noh and Jubilee to go to him.

The boy hadn't paid much attention when the door opened, lost in what he was doing and sitting at a keyboard, but when he heard the little sound Jubilee let out, he looked up. His mouth parted and his eyes widened for just a moment before he simply zipped right over to his mom and very nearly knocked her over, wrapping his arms around her at a much higher angle than she was used to — he was now almost as tall as she was.

He didn't say anything at all, just hugged her tightly and buried his face in her neck. In an instant, Noh wrapped them both up as well, and the little family sank to the floor in a puddle of relief, not a one of them ready to let go any time soon.

"Time to call in the rest of your team," Logan said softly, directing the others away so that they weren't intruding on the reunion. "Make sure it all went according to plan."

Fury nodded and asked for the rest of them to check in, pleased to hear that Scott was in control of the bridge — and for the first time was flying the helicarrier. "Logan, we broke Scott," Kate said in a mock whisper over the comms.

"If he's smiling, you didn't break him," Logan replied. "And I'm sure he's smiling."

"He's not stopping. It keeps going. It's freaking me out," Kate laughed, clearly not meaning a word of it but enjoying herself all the same.

"Tell him it was my idea for him to take the bridge," Logan said. "That oughta stop it."

"Oh no. I'm not stepping on this moment. Just… letting it happen. One of the bamfs is recording it. For reasons."

"Right. I'm sure they're good reasons too," Logan said with a smirk. "See you in a few. Got some nanites to turn off and a voice command key to change before you get here."

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the little group was joined by a very concerned-looking Noh as K straightened the hem of her shirt and brushed what Logan was sure amounted to imaginary dust off her shoulders. She gave him a warm smile when they made their appearance and abandoned Noh to wrap Logan up in a quick kiss. "You missed some of the fun," she said. "Saved the best for once we're all done."

Noh, meanwhile, was looking slightly disturbed, but he crossed the hall to where Jubilee was — his Jubilee — and wrap her up for a good long moment before he glanced at the family hug fest going on in Sying's room.

He glanced around the room, taking in the little keyboard and the pages and pages of handwritten music with a little proud smile. "Noh," he called out to his older self, and the older Kree looked up and met Noh's gaze.

"Right," the older Noh said. "If you have specifications…"

Noh nodded, and the two of them simply retreated to a corner to put their heads together — both on how to deal with the nanites _in_ people in that time and how to prevent them in the younger Noh's time if the problem should ever arise. Which, Jubilee was determined, would not be the case, since she planned on shoving the whole idea up Maria Hill's nose when they got home.

With the older Noh no longer part of the cuddle pile, Sying finally looked up from hugging the stuffing out of his parents and smiled a bit Logan and K's way. He glanced at Jubilee, almost asking for permission with his gaze, and when she nodded at him, he rushed over to wrap his arms around K first.

"Hey sparkly little maple leaf," K said as she bear-hugged him right back. "We missed you."

He responded by pulling her into a tighter hug for a while. "Missed you too," he mumbled quietly enough that only she and Logan caught it, and she pulled him that much closer and kissed the side of his head, stroking his hair like she always liked to do.

"You need a haircut," she muttered.

"Mom can do it," he whispered back, perfectly content to hold onto her while everyone else on the team was attending to the details, retaking the helicarrier, that sort of thing.

Eventually, he did release her, but that was only because he'd spotted Logan over her shoulder and zipped over in an instant to give Logan more or less the same treatment, half burying himself into Logan too.

"Take it easy, kiddo," Logan said as he gave the boy a hug in return. "We're not going anywhere."

"You might," he said uneasily, and just hugged him harder.

"Not unless we want to," Logan replied. "We're fixing all this mess right now. You don't have to worry about it anymore."

Sying nodded as he listened to Logan, but his lower lip was quivering, and in an instant, he melted into Logan in a style that was incredibly reminiscent of his mother, the full weak knees and just crying his heart out in pure relief.

Logan let out a little sigh before he started to hush him and snuggled him a little bit tighter. "You're just like your mother," he told him softly.

Sying let out a little laugh and a muttered, "Thanks."

The Noh from that time cleared his throat after a while of Sying practically using Logan to stay upright. "Is there someplace we can go other than this floating fortress?" he asked as he slipped over and scooped up his little boy the way he did when he was younger, regardless of the height difference. Not that Sying seemed to be complaining when he was half in a state of shock that the years-long confinement was ending.

"I'm sure if we make sure there are no tracers, there might be _somewhere_ we can go," Logan said.

Noh nodded and snuggled into his son a little more. "Then we'll gather up your things," he told Sying low and then turned to get to work, singing under his breath an old Kree lullaby that had Sying totally melting into him.


	4. This Time, Krissy Gets a Chance

**Notes: Oh yeah, Scott definitely didn't want to leave, but hey, everyone involved needs to rest, recharge, and recoup. And... according to this chapter... flirt :P**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: "This Time, Krissy Gets a Chance"**

* * *

When the group got back to the cottage — without Fury or Mystique — it was well after dark, but all of the kids were still awake and clearly anxious to see how things had gone down. There were suitcases and a few boxes of essentials set out in the living room in case they had to bolt, and Tyler was the one to meet them as one last protective measure. Just in case.

He was ready for a fight, hackles raised and clearly ready to tear into someone, though Logan and K just walked right past him without more acknowledgement than when K reached up and patted his arm. Which was enough to get one of the bamfs to _fall apart_ laughing at the look on Tyler's face.

"Anyone still awake?" Scott asked Tyler, and the young man shook his head for a moment, just to get his feet back underneath him.

"Yeah, everyone's up," he said. "Couldn't sleep."

"Well then let's put them to bed before it gets too late," K suggested. "I'm sure they'll scatter." Though the second part of her statement was said with a grin and was very quickly disproven almost as soon as she walked in the door. Everyone under the age of sixteen all but mobbed the little group for hugs and kisses.

Logan had gotten all but bowled over by Elin, and K had scooped up James as best she could for as much as he was growing. The little group of them moved out of the way so that the others could get into the house properly.

The two little elflings had of course made a beeline for Kate and Kurt and the bamfs, resulting in a very purple cuddle pile right there on the living room floor. And while Chance and Charlie were glad to see their dad back in one piece, they were even more excited to see the others that had been gone for so long, and both of them rushed to hug Sying.

"Oh," Charlie said once she'd hugged the little boy and got a good feel for what his emotional state was. She blinked at him twice and then hugged him all over again. "No, no, we're not going anywhere, I _promise_ ," she said so sincerely that it almost broke Jubilee's heart watching Sying halfway melt into the older girl.

"Alright, alright, if we're not packing up and moving, then I need everyone to get away from the kitchen already," Annie called out.

"Mom, you don't have to feed everyone anytime anything happens," Chance said with a little laugh.

"Well, I can't let them starve," Annie shot back. "And look at little Sying. He clearly hasn't been eating right."

Charlie kept hugging Sying and nodded. "She's right, you know," she said Chance's way, and he shrugged, not about to argue with _both_ his mom and sister. But mostly just not his sister.

The snuggle fest more or less moved to the living room, though Annie was very soon vindicated in her baking frenzy when little Krissy started to drift off asleep, and then jerked awake in an attempt to keep up with the story — and accidentally teleported into K, knocking both of them over.

Very quickly, two things happened. The first was that Kurt looked like he'd just won the lottery and Kate let out a little squeal of delight, since neither of them had seen Krissy teleport before. And the second was that Annie pointed her spoon at Krissy and K in the clearest 'I told you so' that any of them had ever seen.

"And Krissy's maybe seventy soaking wet," Annie said triumphantly.

"I haven't lost _that_ much weight," K replied with a frown. "And I do have metal to anchor me. Come on."

Chance just chuckled as he offered Krissy a hand up — and then K. "You really shouldn't point out the metal. If Krissy can knock you down _and_ you have metal…?" He trailed off and grinned crookedly.

"Oh shut up, tiny Summers," K said with a clearly put on expression of irritation before Chance hugged the stuffing out of her.

"Missed you too, K," he told her warmly.

"So, why were you flirting so hard with poor little Krissy anyhow?" K asked before he could let her go. "Don't you know you'll do better with flowers and sweets than picking and being a butthead?"

He looked taken aback, honestly, and then laughed and shook his head. "That's not—"

"Oh yes it is," Logan agreed.

"It's really only just — I mean, she just started teleporting, and it's hilarious, and it's just—"

"Flirting," K said. "Why don't you kiss her?"

At that, both Krissy and Chance looked somewhere between surprised, horrified, and something else entirely as they turned redder in their own separate colors.

"You'd make a cute couple," Logan added. "I'll drive you to the movies if she won't 'port you there."

"I can't 'port anyone anywhere yet," Krissy said with a little frown as her tail switched behind her.

"Then pick out what you want to see," K replied. "Make sure it's cute and you can share a popcorn."

"Now just wait a minute," Kurt said, going from looking like he'd won the lottery on seeing his daughter teleport to being incredibly concerned by the idea of _sharing popcorn_.

Both ferals fell apart laughing at that. "Not like you can fight it, Blueberry," K called out. "She keeps smiling at him when she's done blushing."

"She doesn't — you shouldn't be _pushing_ ," Kurt grumbled, to Kate's utter amusement as she failed at hiding her laughter behind her hand.

"We're not _pushing,_ " K defended. "We're just offering them a ride — and money for popcorn."

Kurt looked somewhere between betrayed and just… trying to process that, though he was helped by Krissy, who pointed out, "He has to _ask_ me to the movies."

Both ferals just turned to Chance and gave him a look, obviously waiting to see if he had the guts to do just that. "She has a point, tiny Summers," K said.

By that time, the attention of everyone else in the house was on them as well, and Chance glanced over to see that his sister — who was still hugging Sying with one arm because she had apparently decided he should never be without a hug of some kind — was no help at all; both she and Sying were grinning.

He flushed a brilliant red and looked toward Scott — but Scott wasn't much help either; he was just smirking at the whole situation and gave Chance a little shrug that clearly said 'your call.'

Chance just blinked before he finally turned Krissy's way to find that she was _clearly_ enjoying putting him on the spot. And very suddenly, he just had to make a face at her for doing that to him. "So you wanna go to the movies or not?" he asked when she stuck her tongue right back out at him for the face.

"Sure! Soon as we get to the next place — or to Westchester or whatever," she agreed.

Logan and K shared a little smirk as Elin and James traded places on their snuggles and the four of them took the loveseat near the fireplace. "Just a matter of time, Blueberry," K said quietly. "Almost as flirty as you."

"Which one?" Kurt said in a tone that was almost resigned. "I seem to remember him flirting with _yours_ a few years back."

"Oh, now you're just picking nits," she replied.

He gave her a little look and rolled his eyes, though Kate was still giggling almost uncontrollably, half tucked into Kurt's side and all but clutching him for support as she muttered something about " _two_ flirty girls" that just had her falling into giggles all over again.

"Yeah, you should see Kari and James all snuggled up," Scott offered. "They fall asleep cuddled up most nights."

Kurt gave Scott a look that clearly said that was not at all helpful, which was tempered a bit by the fact that Kate was giggling madly — and the fact that bamfs were nearly in tears laughing at their big brother's expression.

"She knows a mini hug magnet when she sees one," Kate gasped out.

"Absolutely," Scott agreed. "He's the only one she cuddles like that."

Logan looked down at James. "You want to take Kari to the movies too?"

"It's too loud in there," James replied with a frown.

"See? You're fine, Elf," Kate said with a giggle.

"But they can watch a movie at home," K offered. "Where it's nice and quiet and private."

"You," Kurt said, leveling a finger at K as both Scott and Kate were wearing exactly the same expressions, "are not helping."

K looked shocked at his accusation. "I so, so am," she replied.

"Helping the girls to get their first boyfriends," Scott prompted, which just had Kate dying of giggles even more.

"I'm helping them to be _happy_ , and have some fun," K replied. "If a boyfriend is a part of it — so be it."

Kurt shook his head and looked like he might try to argue the point. But he didn't quite have an argument for that, so he just let out a breath and shook his head.

"I missed you, Blueberry," K said quietly, but with a troublemaking smirk.

"And I you," he said, still shaking his head but matching her smirk.

"And the hug magnet. We both missed him too," Kate prompted.

"Oh. you missed him way more," K replied as Logan shook his head. "Far superior hugs."

"That's because he's the hug magnet. Sorry, but I don't make the rules."

"You're all nuts," Logan replied.

"Ah, but you love us anyway," Kurt chuckled.

"Far better company than Hill and her cronies," he agreed. "Silly witch thought she'd separate the two of us off missions."

"The very thought," Kurt said, his tone light but his gaze a little darker now.

"So instead she just turned it into non-stop missions," Logan finished. "Looking forward to about a week of sleep."

"Ah, but you'll be driving my daughter to the movies," Kurt pointed out in a stern tone. "You can't fall asleep — I expect you to keep an eye on things."

Logan smirked. "I'll drive 'em. And go to sleep. They're trustworthy. He's a Summers, for christsakes."

"He has a point," Kate laughed. "And Krissy's a good kid. Stop worrying so much."

"Or we could have Jubes take them," K offered. "I'm sure Sying and Charlie would love a little time too."

Kurt actually laughed at that. "Now there's an idea. Five minutes back and already you're working to get all the Summers children out on dates."

"Then it's settled," Kate said with a grin. "Jubes will drive. Logan will sit on Kurt to keep him from having a cardiac episode. It'll be great."

"Perfect," K agreed. "And you and I can hide out to avoid the baking tornado."

"Only to emerge after the chocolate comes out," Kate said.

"Right. Can't skip that," she agreed before she looked over to the spare Noh and Jubilee. "So. What are you two waiting for?" she asked. "Either dive in or go home."

Jubilee just laughed at that and darted over to immediately snuggle up to Logan, and Noh sat on the other side of the couch by K. "This isn't exactly our reunion," Noh said with a small shrug, tipping his head to where that universe's Noh and Jubilee were getting snuggled by Sying and Charlie and Kari all at once.

"No, but they're busy, and we're not interrupting that snugglefest of glitter and moonbeams," K told him. Almost on cue, Elin and James had attached to the Noh and Jubilee from that world. "And these two missed the future yous quite a bit."

"Well, they are darling little siblings," Noh said, watching as his older self kissed Elin on the temple and the older Jubilee was practically smothering James in a hug.

"So, you know when the trouble starts, right?" Logan asked.

Noh nodded, turning his attention back to the group in front of them. "My older self was sure to give me as much information as possible, in addition to what Scott gave."

"So did he give you the point of the island — or six months before that when the Cube got cracked?"

"He did suggest simply razing the Cube to the ground at one point," Noh said with a small smirk.

"I would not disagree with that assessment," K said with a sigh. "Before she gets any backing."

"I intend to speak with the director in our time as well," Noh admitted. "If there's a way to do this without endangering other life, that would be preferred. And razing the Cube, satisfying though it might be… might not be the best of ideas. There are still many of my people there from the invasion — that was recent in our time. And we don't want to start another fight with the Kree again."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Logan replied. "But make sure you tell Scott about this when you get back too. So he can make adjustments of his own. SHIELD doesn't always pay attention to mutant issues."

"We do have a few years to make plans," Noh agreed. "And if nothing else, I know the exact date this woman intends to steal my son, and I have learned many things from your wife this day," he said in a tone that he simply didn't use very often.

K reached over and patted his knee. "I was trying not to scar you too badly," she said.

"And I appreciate that thought, but it was still an … experience," Noh said, shaking his head. "Not that I'm not grateful for the technical information we gleaned from her confession," he added quickly.

"Interrogation goes a lot faster when there's a living lie detector doing the work, doesn't it?" Logan asked with a smirk.

"It's one way to get things done," Noh said, tipping his head. "I simply force them to tell the truth myself, but I wasn't about to step in when K was…" He waved his hand at K rather than finish the sentence.

"Awww," K said before she leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I did scar you."

"It's alright," he promised. "She deserved it."

"You say that now," K replied. "But hopefully you're back home before we completely finish the job."

"We should be going soon anyway, right?" Jubilee pointed out. "I mean, we know what to do, and everyone's safe and home, so…"

"You know how Gateway is," Logan said easily, leaning back and settling in a little better. "He'll wait until you're not concerned about it first."

"That may be some time," Noh joked lightly. "Jubilee would argue that until you have had your fill of hugs…"

Logan gave him a dry look and shook his head. "You better quit that sooner rather than later," he warned. "It's not funny when Kate does it — less funny when you do."

"It's hilarious," Noh defended, totally straight-faced. "Simply because of your expression, as I've been told when they do it to me."

"If you've been told, then you don't know firsthand. So it's not."

Jubilee smirked and shook her head. "Yeah, but he's not wrong about me needing my Wolvie snuggles before I go," she pointed out, purely to help her sparkly husband out of the jam. And besides, she really _did_ need her Wolvie snuggles, and she made sure to pull Logan into a serious hug so that there really was no way out of it.

It wasn't long before K extracted herself from that snuggle pile and made her way over to the Elves, though she was picking up bamfs on her way — since they hadn't been around the ferals either, they wanted hugs, and she was a much easier mark than Logan was. She scooped up Kari in a cuddle and then was joined by Krissy not long after before she gave Kurt a look over her shoulder and declared, "I'm taking these two with me now."

"Bye Papa!" Kari called out enthusiastically, waving with both hands.

Kurt just had to chuckle at that, especially when they could hear Krissy explaining that "It's okay if a _good guy_ kidnaps you for snuggles. That's _fun_."

Jubilee was just snuggling into Noh and watching as the various little families and groups fell into their own snuggles after so much separation when the last of Scott and Annie's little group came inside, a strange look on her face.

"There's this, like, half-naked guy outside?" Leslie Ann said with her nose wrinkled up. "I don't know how he got past the perimeter alarms, but he was asking for you two," she said, gesturing to Jubilee and Noh.

The two of them glanced at each other and shared a little look of understanding. "Gateway," they said at the same time, and Noh stood up, gently setting Jubilee down on her feet once they were up.

"Then I suppose you'll be leaving us," Kurt said with a little frown before he simply stood up and wrapped them both in a hug — along with Kate. "It was good to see you — and I hope you won't be offended when I tell you I hope we don't need you again," he teased lightly when he'd properly wrapped up Jubilee.

"Trust me; we don't want anything else bad to happen to you guys either," Jubilee said earnestly as she returned the hug.

"Hopefully, you guys'll have a happier ending anyway," Kate put in.

"That is the plan," Noh promised. He grinned Kate's way. "Besides, we have a great weapon: information. Maria Hill won't be able to surprise us this time."

"I mean, this is a good point, but still." She kissed his cheek. "Be _happy_."

"Always," he promised and made sure to wrap her in a hug long enough that she believed him.

Jubilee was of course sure to get one last quick snuggle in with Logan before she and Noh ducked out of the cottage, ready to get back to a time where their friends weren't quite so… desperately in need of human contact.

They hadn't stepped very far from the front door when the telltale wind started up, lifting up not only Noh and Jubilee but also leaves and dirt from around them — though that would settle as soon as they were gone.

As the wind picked up, the two of them clutched to each other, holding on tight with their eyes screwed shut before, all of a sudden, they hit the sand of the Outback.


	5. Hill Can Be Someone Else's Problem

**Okay, there was a little bit of a wait for this chapter, because I wanted it to go up when the end of Kate and Kurt's story went up, for parallelism and timeline purposes ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: "Hill Can Be Someone Else's Problem"**

* * *

After dropping off Kate and Kurt at the mansion, Jubilee and Noh had one more stop they wanted to make before they went home — while the whole thing was still fresh and they had as much actionable intel as possible.

Noh sent ahead a message to SHIELD — specifically to Fury — that they were coming, though both he and Jubilee had looked over the transmission twice before sending it. If the timeline they'd just come from had taught them anything, it was that Hill still had support within SHIELD, so they'd be safer just going straight to the director.

To their surprise, Fury met them on the flight deck with a frown and a somewhat concerned look on his face. "Is there something wrong that I should know about?" Fury asked. "Or is this some kind of weird way Logan's trying to pay up for the money he lost last week at poker?"

"Um, the first one — but it hasn't gone wrong _yet_ ," Jubilee said with her nose slightly wrinkled.

"Is this something that needs to happen in a more secure area, or is the flight deck acceptable?" Fury asked, looking over both of them with a much more scrutinizing expression.

"Privacy would be expedient," Noh agreed in a sigh. "Unless you can vouch for every person here not holding any favor for the previous assistant director."

Fury gave him a dry look that read he simply didn't trust much of anyone before he led them through a maze of tunnels and back paths to the hall several doors down from his office and then into the office itself. Once they were inside, he locked the door and hit a button on the underside of his desk that killed all recording equipment in the room. "This room is sound proofed," Fury assured them. "Anything you say now will not leave these walls."

"Good," Noh said with a little nod. "Because, director, your former assistant director is making plans to oust you. Plans that, according to the timeline we just left, will become actionable in five or six years."

Fury looked thoughtful as he nodded slowly. "What kind of plans?"

Noh and Jubilee glanced at each other. "In a few years' time, she will find a way to manipulate Logan and K into her employ, very nearly completely."

"That sounds pretty well out of her depth," Fury said with a skeptical look. "Last I checked, neither one of them would let her manipulate them into so much as agreeing to disagree with her. On principle."

"Yeah, well, she found a way to bring our baby boy into the equation," Jubilee told him frankly, her arms crossed and a clear look of utter fury at the memory of what they'd seen.

"So in the future, she uses kids to get her point across to the two that can't let a kid suffer," Fury surmised. "Sounds both desperate and like an invitation to get skewered."

"She was. Eventually," Noh said. "After she'd sent them to kill you — though, I should note, they didn't."

"Yeah, you were rocking the undercover homeless man look," Jubilee couldn't help but grin.

Fury smirked at that and nodded. "Any recommendations on how to stop Hill from being … Evil dictator Hill?"

Noh nodded, opening a small pocket dimension right there in the room with the band on his wrist to pull out a records device where he'd written down every relevant detail of Hill's breakout from the Cube. "Most of this will happen five years from now, but even as we speak, the fact that she is in a facility run by SHIELD means she is with people who will still listen to her. First and foremost, as much as it's poetic justice to keep her there, we cannot keep Maria Hill in the Cube."

"Do you have an acceptable alternative?" Fury said. "Because by my count, she could make just as many allies in any SHIELD run facility."

"So don't put her in a SHIELD-run facility," Jubilee said.

"I don't have many other options, considering that what I am in charge of is _SHIELD_ ," Fury pointed out with a bit of heat.

Noh seemed to be chewing on an idea before he finally leaned forward. "My people would put her in stasis until a trial could be arranged," he offered softly. "Not for Earth crimes. For war crimes during the recent invasion. She was, after all, the one who ordered Zarek's death."

Fury's eyebrows rose for a moment as he weighed it out. "Do you have irrefutable proof that she made the hit? Proof that the Accusers would accept?"

"I would need time to prepare it, but they would keep her in stasis while I did so," Noh said thoughtfully. "But... if we can prove her use of the controlling bands, there is another consideration. The Kree don't take well to being subjected — even with my status now as a traitor, they would likely argue one of their own was forced into becoming a traitor in the first place. It fits their worldview much more preferably to treason of any kind."

"I'm sure Brand was smart enough to hold on to proof of what was done to you," Fury said.

"I'm sure," Noh agreed. "And my people would love the excuse to maintain that no Kree would turn against the Empire _willingly_. Truth or not, they would seize upon it."

"But … then where does that put you with them after the fact?" Jubilee asked. "Because I am so not on board if it means they can step in and run your life again."

"I'm not entirely sure," Noh admitted. "I suppose it depends on how the trial proceeds."

"Well, I guess we can always send your lawyer in a cake to pop out of in the middle of their big Wizengamot or whatever the heck it is."

Noh chuckled. "With as much rebuilding as they are doing, it may be some time before they even get around to dealing with this. We have time. And in the meantime, Hill will not be making any allies in Kree custody."

"I'll tell Brand we need to set up a meeting," Fury said. "I'll let you know when it is, chances are it will be with Sinta. He's still in this galaxy at least."

"That may be to our advantage," Noh said. "He was… friendly to the X-Men before his capture. I'm not sure where he stands now, though. But if we are offering to hand over a war criminal, I'm sure he will be amenable."

Fury nodded. "I know how to find you."

Both of them stood up to go at that, knowing it was a dismissal. "If all else fails and Sinta doesn't want to negotiate," Noh said, "the date of her breakout is in that data."

Fury simply waved them off, already getting down to work. "Tell Logan to bring what he owes with the _full_ ante this time."

* * *

By the time Jubilee and Noh got back to the mansion, it was late enough that they had stopped to grab dinner first — noodles and dumplings — since everyone else had already eaten and was likely getting the littlest ones ready for bed.

Kate and Kurt had already left with Krissy, but the Howletts were still downstairs with Elin and Sying. Which was perfect for their needs, as both Jubilee and Noh rushed over to wrap up both Logan and K, respectively, in hugs.

"Oh look, more hugs," K said as Noh all but picked her up. "What did we do wrong now?"

"On the contrary," Noh said, hugging her tightly. "You both are just… wonderful."

"That's the first review we've gotten like that," Logan muttered, while Jubilee snuggled into his neck.

"You two are the best grandparents ever," Jubilee sort of explained. "We're lucky, and so's Sying."

"Well, we could have told you that," K teased as the young couple changed hugging partners — or Jubilee did anyhow. Noh ended up scooping up the two little ones for snuggles instead.

"Yes, but truly, where we just returned from… thank you," Noh said, in particular ruffling Sying's hair.

"Where were you returned from?" Logan asked. "Was it the same hell on earth Kate and Kurt were in?"

"Oh no," Jubes said quickly, shaking her head. "No, none of that. We were in a different horrible, horrible future run by Maria Hill."

"Yuck," K said with her nose crinkled up. "That's … well. Almost as bad as the world run by Azazel."

"Yeah, it wasn't _quite_ that bad," Jubilee said, shaking her head. "But it was still horrible. And you guys just…" She rushed over to give Logan another warm hug.

"We did something selfless and stupid?" K asked, though Logan simply looked as if he was expecting as much.

"In order to save our little one," Noh told her in a quiet voice. "Thank you."

"Don't thank her yet," Logan said — indicating the fact that Sying was bouncing in place. "We sugared him up for you."

"And he does take after his mother," Noh said with a little smirk as he kissed Sying's forehead and the little boy tried to climb halfway up him.

"C-o-o-o-o-coa!" Sying sang out with a beaming smile. "K cocoa!"

"She made you cocoa?" Jubilee looked like she could have been bowled over with a feather as she grinned at K, especially with her little boy learning more words. "That's amazing!"

"Always so surprised," K said with a shrug. "There's more upstairs — unless Scott got into it. He was trying to act like he wasn't interested when the kids were getting into it." She leaned forward just a hair. "But he so so was."

"Oh!" Jubilee beamed delightedly. "That does _not_ surprise me! At all!" She had both hands clasped together. "Because I know things. I've _seen_ things."

"Stop that," Logan told her with a little frown.

"Nope! No way," she said, shaking her head. "That was the best part of the whole crummy trip."

"Then tell me what it is so I can change it," Logan replied, doing his best to look as grumpy as possible.

She laughed and shook her finger at him. "No, no. Because if I tell you, you _will_ change it. And this? This thing? It _so_ has to happen." She paused and seemed to consider it. "Well… I _could_ tell you about Uncle Cyclops cuddling the _second elfling_ though. Since certain people are not here at all."

"Nope," Logan said, holding up both hands. "Don't want to know."

"Right, right. Might scare them off, which would be a _crime_. Because there was cuddling. So, so much cuddling. And only sometimes with Scott," Jubilee beamed.

"We must be dead," Logan said at a whisper to K, who nodded her agreement, while Elin reached for her father.

"No, you were only being used at the time," Noh assured her. "But the moment Sying was free, you, my dear lawyer… were quite instructive," he added with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure what I'd be instructive on. Just … hot chocolate."

"And in finding information so we could prevent the timeline from happening in the first place," Noh said. "Which I am grateful for, but I have to admit… I had no idea you were so creative, even after the invasion."

"Well ... I don't believe that you had any experience with my interrogations," K replied.

"And … she did turn Tasha green," Logan pointed out.

"And I understand why now," Noh said, though he quickly added, "But she entirely deserved it."

K shook her head. "No no, the future you painted out meant I had time to really think about what I wanted to do to her. With Nat, that was spur of the moment and experimental. For some of it anyhow." She just gave Logan a little unplaceable smirk. "Some things just always work, I'm sure."

"Absolutely," he agreed with a nod.

"At any rate, we'll be seeing Sinta again at some point," Noh told her. "Not you — myself and possibly Brand. We're going to turn Hill over to Kree justice. Hopefully sooner rather than later, but… they do not quite have a leader to turn her over to or preside over a trial yet."

"You need a back-up?" Logan asked. "Seein' as apparently I'm the more loveable of us to the Kree?"

"Brand will be doing most of the negotiating. But I would not say no to taking you with me if it looks like the Kree might take an interest." He glanced at Jubilee. "I have been reminded to take a lawyer in that case."

"Yeah, I'll be goin' along," Logan said with a nod. "Just so happens I know more about Kree anatomy than the missus. They might think I'm the nicer option but …"

"As I said, if the situation arises, I won't say no," Noh said. "For now, we would just like her remanded into their custody. In stasis. Let them sort out their civil war between them, and we'll get to the trial and possibly the legal defense portion when it comes up," he said with a little smirk K's way.

"I can defend you if you like," K said. "I can even wear a nice suit. Look official."

"I don't know that I'll need defending. Hill will be on trial, and the Kree would much rather it looks like I am innocent and she was the criminal than admit to a traitor in their midst."

"I can defend her badly if they'd like," she offered. "Be the most incompetent lawyer in the history of any galaxy. If they wanted to look good."

"That could be fun," Jubilee muttered with a little smirk.

"Might let them win some face back," K said with a shrug, but Logan wasn't having it.

"No. Freakin'. Way." He was glaring at her openly. "You're not going anywhere that might pull up war criminal charges on you."

"We'll just take Logan," Jubilee said.

"Alright, but if they think they're going to keep him for any reason, I'll have Rachel give me a piggyback ride there, and we'll torch the place," K countered.

"If they think they are going to keep me, Jubilee will do the job for you," Noh pointed out.

"Yes. But I'm talking about the handsome stabby one too," she replied. "I'm keeping that one."

"And we're keeping you," Jubilee said, snuggling back into Logan. "Best. Grandparents. Ever."


End file.
